The 2020 IMSA SportsCar Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the 2020 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship) was the 50th racing season sanctioned by the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) (which traces its lineage back to the 1971 IMSA GT Championship). This was also the seventh United SportsCar Championship season and fifth under the name as the IMSA SportsCar Championship. The series began on January 25 with the 24 Hours of Daytona, and ended on November 14 with the 12 Hours of Sebring.
Series news On September 19, 2019, Scott Atherton announced he'd be retiring from his position as President of the International Motor Sports Association at the end of the 2019 season. On October 15, IMSA would confirm then-team principal of Mazda Team Joest, John Doonan, to be Atherton's replacement. On November 1, 2019, IMSA announced a series of changes to the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Sporting Regulations, effective for the 2020 season. The changes announced included the addition of a "premium" package for GT Daytona (GTD) teams participating in the full season, as well as a requirement of Bronze-rated drivers in the Le Mans Prototype (LMP2) class, among other changes.
Classes Daytona Prototype international (DPi) Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) GT Le Mans (GTLM) GT Daytona (GTD)
Rule changes Changes were made to the amount of practice time for amateur drivers in the LMP2 and GTD classes. Each class will have a longer dedicated free practice session for Bronze and Silver-rated drivers, set at 30 minutes long. All teams participating in such practice will also receive extra sets of tires provided by the series' tire supplier, Michelin. In addition, each LMP2 team may enter one Platinum driver at Daytona, because of the length of that round. Platinum drivers are prohibited in all other LMP2 events.
Schedule The schedule was re-released on August 1, 2020 and featured 11 rounds.
Race Length Classes Circuit Location Date 1 Rolex 24 at Daytona 24 hours All Daytona International Speedway Daytona Beach, Florida January 25–26 2 WeatherTech 240 2 hours 40 minutes DPi, GTLM, GTD Daytona International Speedway Daytona Beach, Florida July 4 3 Cadillac Grand Prix of Sebring 2 hours 40 minutes All Sebring International Raceway Sebring, Florida July 18 4 Road Race Showcase at Road America 2 hours 40 minutes All Road America Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin August 2 5 Michelin GT Challenge at VIR 2 hours 40 minutes GTLM, GTD Virginia International Raceway Alton, Virginia August 22 6 TireRack.com Grand Prix at Road Atlanta 6 hours All Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta Braselton, Georgia September 5 7 Acura Sports Car Challenge at Mid-Ohio 2 hours 40 minutes DPi, GTLM, GTD Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course Lexington, Ohio September 27 8 MOTUL 100% Synthetic Grand Prix 1 hours 40 minutes GTLM, GTD Charlotte Motor Speedway Concord, North Carolina October 9 9 Motul Petit Le Mans 10 hours All Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta Braselton, Georgia October 17 10 Hyundai Monterey Sports Car Championship 2 hours 40 minutes All WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca Monterey, California November 1 11 Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring 12 hours All Sebring International Raceway Sebring, Florida November 14
Notes:
COVID-19 pandemic schedule changes
Originally announced on August 2, 2019, the IMSA schedule was revised as a result of the coronavirus pandemic with changes announced May 15, June 25, and August 1. At the time the 12 Hours of Sebring (March 21) postponement was announced March 12 because of the pandemic and the travel ban, the Long Beach (April 18), Detroit (May 30), and Mosport (July 5) races were officially cancelled by authorities and removed from the first revision on May 15. At that point, standard-distance races were added to Daytona (July 4) and Sebring (July 11). Mid-Ohio was moved from May 3 to September 27. The 6 Hours of Watkins Glen, originally scheduled June 28, was moved to October 4 in the first revision. Lime Rock (GTLM/GTD) was moved from July 18 to October 31. The Virginia International Raceway date was moved from Sunday to Saturday (August 22) in order to avoid a date clash with the 104th Indianapolis 500.
On June 25, IMSA announced further changes. Watkins Glen and Lime Rock were moved up to consecutive weekends, September 6 and 12, while WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, which had been on September 6, was moved to October 31.
However on August 1, IMSA removed the 6 Hours of The Glen and the Lime Rock round because of government regulations related to the New York and Connecticut quarantining restrictions. As a result, the 6 Hours of The Glen was replaced with a second race at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, and the round on the road course of Charlotte Motor Speedway came into place of the Lime Rock event in October.
Entries
Daytona Prototype international (DPi)
Team Chassis Engine Drivers Rounds Mustang Sampling Racing/JDC-Miller MotorSports Cadillac DPi-V.R Cadillac LT4 5.5 L V8 5 Sébastien Bourdais All João Barbosa 1–4, 6–7 Loïc Duval 1, 9, 11 Tristan Vautier 6, 9–11 JDC-Miller MotorSports 85 1–4, 7 Chris Miller 1–2, 4, 9 Matheus Leist 1, 6, 9–11 Juan Piedrahita 1 Stephen Simpson 3, 6, 10–11 Gabriel Aubry 7, 9 Scott Andrews 11 Acura Team Penske Acura ARX-05 Acura AR35TT 3.5 L Turbo V6 6 Dane Cameron All Juan Pablo Montoya All Simon Pagenaud 1, 9, 11 7 Hélio Castroneves All Ricky Taylor All Alexander Rossi 1, 9, 11 Konica Minolta Cadillac DPi-V.R Cadillac DPi-V.R Cadillac LT4 5.5 L V8 10 Renger van der Zande All Ryan Briscoe All Scott Dixon 1, 9, 11 Kamui Kobayashi 1 Whelen Engineering Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R Cadillac LT4 5.5 L V8 31 Pipo Derani All Felipe Nasr 1, 3–4, 6–7, 9–11 Filipe Albuquerque 1, 6, 9 Mike Conway 1 Gabby Chaves 2, 11 Mazda Team Joest Mazda Motorsports Mazda RT24-P Mazda MZ-2.0T 2.0 L Turbo I4 55 Jonathan Bomarito All Harry Tincknell All Ryan Hunter-Reay 1, 6, 9, 11 77 Oliver Jarvis All Tristan Nunez All Olivier Pla 1, 6, 9, 11
Notes:
Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) In accordance with the 2017 LMP2 regulations, all cars in the LMP2 class use the Gibson GK428 V8 engine. Team Chassis Drivers Rounds Tower Motorsport by Starworks Oreca 07 8 John Farano 1, 3, 9, 11 Ryan Dalziel 1, 3 David Heinemeier Hansson 1, 11 Nicolas Lapierre 1 Mikkel Jensen 9, 11 Job van Uitert 9 Era Motorsport Oreca 07 18 Dwight Merriman 1, 3–4, 6 Kyle Tilley 1, 3–4, 6 Ryan Lewis 1 Nicolas Minassian 1 Colin Braun 6 Performance Tech Motorsports Oreca 07 38 Cameron Cassels 1, 3–4 Kyle Masson 1, 3 Don Yount 1, 11 Robert Masson 1 James French 4 Matthew Bell 9 Colin Braun 9 James McGuire 9 Patrick Byrne 11 Guy Cosmo 11 Inter Europol Competition Oreca 07 51 Jakub Śmiechowski 9, 11 Rob Hodes 9 Austin McCusker 9 Matthew Bell 11 Naveen Rao 11 PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports Oreca 07 52 Simon Trummer 1, 4, 6, 9–11 Patrick Kelly 3–4, 6, 9–11 Gabriel Aubry 1 Nicholas Boulle 1 Ben Keating 1 Spencer Pigot 3 Scott Huffaker 6, 9, 11 DragonSpeed USA Oreca 07 81 Henrik Hedman 1, 3–4 Ben Hanley 1, 4 Colin Braun 1 Harrison Newey 1 Gustavo Menezes 3
GT Le Mans (GTLM) Team Chassis Engine Drivers Rounds Corvette Racing Chevrolet Corvette C8.R Chevrolet LT6.R 5.5 L V8 3 Antonio García All Jordan Taylor All Nick Catsburg 1, 9, 11 4 Oliver Gavin All Tommy Milner All Marcel Fässler 1, 9, 11 BMW Team RLL BMW M8 GTE BMW S63 4.0 L Turbo V8 24 John Edwards All Jesse Krohn All Augusto Farfus 1, 9, 11 Chaz Mostert 1 25 Connor De Phillippi All Bruno Spengler All Colton Herta 1, 9, 11 Philipp Eng 1 Risi Competizione Ferrari 488 GTE Evo Ferrari F154CB 4.0 L Turbo V8 62 James Calado 1 Alessandro Pier Guidi 1 Davide Rigon 1 Daniel Serra 1 Porsche GT Team Porsche 911 RSR-19 Porsche M97/80 4.2 L Flat-6 911 Frédéric Makowiecki 1–6, 8–11 Nick Tandy 1–6, 8–11 Matt Campbell 1, 9 Earl Bamber 11 912 Earl Bamber 1–6, 8–11 Laurens Vanthoor 1–6, 8–11 Mathieu Jaminet 1, 9 Neel Jani 11
GT Daytona (GTD)
Team Chassis Engine Drivers Rounds Pfaff Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 9 Lars Kern 1, 9 Dennis Olsen 1, 9 Zacharie Robichon 1, 9 Patrick Pilet 1 GRT Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo Lamborghini DGF 5.2 L V10 11 Richard Heistand 1, 6, 11 Steijn Schothorst 1, 6, 11 Albert Costa 1 Franck Perera 1, 11 Richard Westbrook 6 GEAR Racing powered by GRT Grasser 19 Tatiana Calderón 1 Rahel Frey 1 Katherine Legge 1 Christina Nielsen 1 GRT Magnus 44 Andy Lally All John Potter All Spencer Pumpelly 1, 6, 9, 11 Marco Mapelli 1 AIM Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 Toyota 2UR-GSE 5.4 L V8 12 Townsend Bell All Frankie Montecalvo 1–7, 9–11 Aaron Telitz 1, 6 Shane van Gisbergen 1 Michael de Quesada 8, 11 Kyle Kirkwood 9 14 Jack Hawksworth All Aaron Telitz 2–5, 7–11 Michael de Quesada 1, 6, 9 Kyle Busch 1 Parker Chase 1 Daniel Morad 6 Kyle Kirkwood 11 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 16 Ryan Hardwick All Patrick Long All Klaus Bachler 1 Anthony Imperato 1 Jan Heylen 6, 9, 11 Gradient Racing Acura NSX GT3 Evo Acura JNC1 3.5 L Turbo V6 22 Till Bechtolsheimer 2–5, 7–8, 10 Marc Miller 2–5, 7–8, 10 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Mercedes-Benz M177 4.0 L Turbo V8 23 Roman De Angelis 1, 4–11 Ian James 1, 4–11 Alex Riberas 1 Nicki Thiim 1 Darren Turner 6, 9, 11 Team Hardpoint Audi R8 LMS Evo Audi DAR 5.2 L V10 30 Robert Ferriol 2–5, 7–11 Spencer Pumpelly 2–5, 7–8, 10 Andrew Davis 9, 11 Markus Winkelhock 9 Pierre Kaffer 11 Precision Performance Motorsports Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo Lamborghini DGF 5.2 L V10 47 Brandon Gdovic 1 Johnathan Hoggard 1 Mark Kvamme 1 Eric Lux 1 Paul Miller Racing Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo Lamborghini DGF 5.2 L V10 48 Bryan Sellers 1, 5–6, 9, 11 Madison Snow 1, 5–6, 9, 11 Corey Lewis 1, 6, 9, 11 Andrea Caldarelli 1 Black Swan Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 54 Jeroen Bleekemolen 1 Trenton Estep 1 Sven Müller 1 Tim Pappas 1 Heinricher Racing with MSR Curb-Agajanian Acura NSX GT3 Evo Acura JNC1 3.5 L Turbo V6 57 Mikhail Goikhberg 1–2, 4–11 Álvaro Parente 1–2, 4–10 Trent Hindman 1, 6, 9, 11 A. J. Allmendinger 1 Joey Hand 11 Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian 86 Mario Farnbacher 1–2, 4–11 Matt McMurry 1–2, 4–11 Shinya Michimi 1, 6, 9, 11 Jules Gounon 1 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 488 GT3 Ferrari F154CB 3.9 L Turbo V8 63 Cooper MacNeil 1–6, 9–11 Toni Vilander 1–6 Jeff Westphal 1, 6, 9, 11 Alessandro Balzan 1, 9–11 Riley Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo Mercedes-AMG M159 6.2 L V8 74 Lawson Aschenbach All Gar Robinson All Ben Keating 1, 6, 9 Felipe Fraga 1 Marc Miller 11 Compass Racing McLaren 720S GT3 McLaren M840T 4.0 L Turbo V8 76 Paul Holton 2–5, 7–8, 10 Corey Fergus 2–5, 7 Jeff Kingsley 8, 10 WRT Speedstar Audi Sport Audi R8 LMS Evo Audi DAR 5.2 L V10 88 Mirko Bortolotti 1 Rolf Ineichen 1 Daniel Morad 1 Dries Vanthoor 1 Turner Motorsport BMW M6 GT3 BMW S63 4.4 L Turbo V8 96 Bill Auberlen 1-10 Robby Foley All Dillon Machavern 1, 6, 9, 11 Jens Klingmann 1 Nick Yelloly 11 Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Mercedes-Benz M177 4.0 L Turbo V8 98 Ross Gunn 1 Pedro Lamy 1 Mathias Lauda 1 Andrew Watson 1
Race results Bold indicates overall winner.